California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who is considering a run for president as he approaches the end of his term, called for a national “billionaires’ tax” on Friday even as he fights another proposal targeting the wealthy in his home state.
Newsom also said the U.S. government should own a stake in artificial intelligence companies. His proposals, outlined in a Substack post, aligns him with the Democratic Party’s populist left, and he argued that urgent changes are needed to prevent the elite concentration of wealth and power from undermining democracy.
“It’s time for an economic reset for America,” Newsom wrote.
The governor announced his agenda a day after an influential health care union in California pledged to go forward with a ballot measure that would impose a one-time 5% tax on the assets of billionaires living in the state as of Jan. 1, 2026.
I don’t see why you can’t have both. Both the Feds and the States should impose a 20% tax on all estates over $100 million.
The states that don’t impose a wealth tax will get all the rich people moving there, and the States will come to regret it greatly. Everything will be unaffordable, everybody will be suing each other, and workers won’t be able to afford to work or live there.
Meanwhile, the states with a proper tax balance will be affordable, and livable.